A Study In Gluttony: Our Favorite Fat Tuesday Food Deals
By Lisa White in Food on Mar 4, 2014 4:50PM
Dusek's is celebrating Fat Tuesday this evening./Photo via Facebook.
Even if you don’t participate in the traditional celebration of gluttony pre-Lent for religious reasons, we never pass up an excuse to put on some stretchy pants and overindulge on some delicious Southern food and beverages. So the season of Mardi Gras and particularly Fat Tuesday, is a favorite around these parts. Give us a pile of paczki, a crawfish boil and a Sazerac and our winter worries fade away.
There are numerous delights to be had around the city today, but we thought we’d highlight a few favorites for you to get your Fat Tuesday fix. If you feel line venturing out instead of just eating a dozen paczki that you waited in line for this morning and washing them down with a pitcher of Pat O’Brien Hurricane mix. Throw on some big band jazz, dig into a big bowl of etouffee and pretend like you’re down in New Orleans and there isn’t snow on the ground.
Bang Bang Pie
Bang Bang is teaming up with Joe Fish, the almost open Rosebud Restaurant, for a speciality biscuit starting today at noon. Their Fat Tuesday fried chicken biscuit includes cajun fried chicken, brown gravy and Louisiana hot sauce butter. They’ll also be serving up banana cream pie if you have room for a little more fat and carbs in your belly. The biscuits are limited so head over for lunch early to celebrate!
Bang Bang Pie Shop is located at 2051 N. California Ave.
Dusek’s
The Pilsen all-in-one dinner and drink hotspot is celebrating with a New Orleans inspired menu and beer specials this evening, along with a promise of a brass band marching through the dining room at some point tonight. Dishes include a crawfish and rabbit etouffee with hot sauce emulsion, classic turtle soup and a BBQ gulf prawn with one hour egg, grits and collards. They’ll have Hurricane punch, Sazerac and French 75 to sip on and showcase beers from Abita, Dixie and Lost Abbey Carnivale.
Dusek's is located at 1227 W. 18th St.
Frontier
Frontier will be hosting an authentic Louisiana shrimp boil tonight at 7 p.m. by Chef Brian Jupiter, who was raised in New Orleans. For $33 per person you enjoy a shrimp boil complete with the traditional potatoes and corn. The evening will also include drink specials like the Mardi Gras gin fizz, Hurricanes and Sazerac. Frontier also has a nice selection of Oysters (I’m partial to their West Coast varieties on the menu) if you want to fully maximize your decadent gluttony. Head over to Frontier’s website to purchase tickets for the shrimp boil.
Frontier is located at 1072 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Carnivale
Carnivale is going all out for Fat Tuesday, bringing in live Zydeco music, beads, masks and face painting if you want to truly go all out celebrating this evening. They also have a special prix fixe menu that includes a variety of dishes to choose from including shrimp and grits, a lobster etouffee with a seafood veloute, Oregon truffle and huitlacoche risotto and a ‘King Cake’ dessert of marbled pound cake, candied pecans and Knob Creek single barrel ice cream.
Carnivale is located at 702 W. Fulton St.
Shaw’s Crab House
Today only, Shaw’s will offer an all-you-can-eat New Orleans crawfish boil for $30 per person. The Midway Ramblers Cajun Band will be providing tunes in the Oyster Bar from 7 to 10 p.m. and if a crawfish boil isn’t your thing, they have a variety of seasonal menu selections as well. You can enjoy a shrimp or crawfish po’ boy, jambalaya, seafood gumbo, crawfish pot pie and quench your thirst with a Pat O’Brien classic Hurricane or Sazerac.
Shaw's Crab House is located at 21 E. Hubbard St.
Lottie’s Pub
If you are looking for something a bit more low key, head to Lottie’s and grab a $5 20-ounce Hurricane or an Abita pint or flight to celebrate the Mardi Gras season. Abita will also be in the house tonight for a free sampling, a perfect excuse to try their brews if you haven’t already. Chef Brian Jupiter is representing creole cuisine again with simple classic offerings of jambalaya and chicken po’ boy.
Lottie's Pub is located at 1925 W. Cortland St.